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What is the biggest threat to the stability of the global economy right now? Britain leaving the EU? Donald Trump’s taste for bone-headed protectionism? The Federal Reserve raising interest rates too quickly, a collapse in China, or the sudden break-up of the eurozone?

You could make a case for all of them, and they are all worrying to different degrees.

But in fact, it is something that gets only a fraction of the attention it deserves: Germany’s trade surplus. Hitting record highs with every month that passes, it now amounts to a massive 9pc of GDP. In effect, Germany has become an economic rogue state, hollowing out the industry of its neighbours, creating vast flows of footloose capital...